


on the cutting room floor

by somehowunbroken



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 12:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17264627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somehowunbroken/pseuds/somehowunbroken
Summary: Dylan and Alex agree to be in a promo video for the Winter Classic. There's... a lot of footage that had to be cut out.





	on the cutting room floor

**Author's Note:**

> so i saw [the promo video with dylan and alex](https://www.instagram.com/p/Br8SibCBIRd/), and after i stopped clutching at my heart, all i could notice were the filler material and the really weird, abrupt cuts. naturally, i wanted to fill in the blanks with everything that had to be cut out, and here we are.
> 
> happy new year, y'all. <3

Cass loves her job; she really and truly does. It's a lot of fun, working in the fan relations department of a major sports team, and it means she gets to see a lot of really cool behind-the-scenes things on a pretty regular basis.

But this… well.

"Just get what you can out of it," Lynda says, sighing heavily when she sees all the footage Cass has been marking as questionable. "We'll just do what we can. If we need to re-shoot, we will."

"There's some that's useable, but not a lot," Cass says. "I'll go through it all again, then cut together whatever is left at the end."

Lynda nods. "Let me know when you have something."

"Just don't expect it to be much," Cass says, turning back to her screen.

"Don't worry, I won't," Lynda says, and Cass shakes her head as she gets back to work.

-0-

There's a camera shot of Dylan and Alex on the sofa, legs touching, elbows resting comfortably against each other. It's nothing unusual, except there aren't any other hockey players crowding them together, nobody forcing them to sit that close on the sofa. The camera is rolling but they're not really going, not yet.

Someone sighs offscreen. "Guys," the director's voice calls out. "One to a cushion, okay? Or we're going to have to clear a whole bunch of stuff with PR."

Alex shifts away quickly, but Dylan laughs, open and easy, and the expression on his face doesn't look concerned at all. "I mean, it's no secret we're close, right?" he asks, even as Alex pulls a pillow from the side of the sofa and whacks him in the arm with it. Dylan laughs. "Fine, I'm going, I'm going."

He shifts about six inches over and smirks.

The director sighs again, louder this time. "Good enough."

-0-

Alex is watching Dylan as he talks, and the close-up shot of his face catches every minute expression, every twitch of his lips and hint of colour on his cheeks as Dylan talks. From everything Dylan has said since the trade, it's nothing but the truth, the way he only thought of calling Alex, the way he knew they'd fit back together seamlessly. It's maybe too much of the truth, though, given the way Alex is reacting to it.

Dylan's expression is open, animated, fond as he listens to Alex reciprocate. He's probably an absolutely terrible poker player, if the way he reacts to Alex talking about their chemistry is anything to go by; there's no hiding an ounce of what he's thinking, and as if that wasn't enough, he smiles when Alex finishes. "Aw," he says.

The footage of both of them side-by-side shows them smiling directly at each other. "Don't you 'aw' me like you weren't thinking all of that too," Alex says, his whole face crinkling up in amusement.

Dylan laughs. "I mean, duh. Of course I was."

The director makes a slightly annoyed sound, and Dylan and Alex turn in unison, staring directly at the camera. "Maybe we should have you, like, play Xbox or something while you do this part," the director says. "So you're not looking at each other."

Alex shrugs. "If you think that's better, then sure."

"I can only hope," the director mutters.

-0-

"I just was so excited, y'know, to be able to play with someone who means so much to me," Dylan says, staring off-camera at the television, and the director groans.

-0-

"We both cook," Alex says, glancing quickly from the television to grin directly at the camera before looking back at the game. "Not well, but we're working on it."

"Alex has no cooking skills, don't even let him lie to you," Dylan says, laughing. "He made this chicken, what was it called--"

"Chicken paprikash," Alex supplies, grinning.

"--right, paprikash. He made it back in juniors, and it was, like, so awful."

"Hey," Alex interjects, "it got you to date me, didn't it?"

There's a beat of silence, and the director lets out a breath. "Okay, from the top."

-0-

"Ralph was so excited when Dylan got here," Alex says, and Dylan's face brightens visibly.

"Oh, man, I love Ralph," Dylan says. "What a good dog."

There's a whuffing sound, and then Dylan leans down, out of frame, and returns cradling Ralph against his chest. Ralph, for his part, is licking Dylan's face and wagging his tail as Dylan laughs.

"He's not allowed on the sofa," Alex says, and it sounds like something he's said a thousand times before, but he's still got a fond look on his face.

"That's why I'm his favourite dad," Dylan replies.

"Guys," the director says. He doesn't even sound mad, just tired. "Guys, please."

-0-

"We've always played so well together," Alex says. He's holding a controller again, staring intently at the television. "Like, obviously we noticed it, but everyone else in Erie did, too."

"It was awesome to get back to that," Dylan adds. "We used to always joke about it, how obviously whatever team drafted me should just draft Alex too, because we were like a points machine."

"And then we could keep living together," Alex goes on, a smile on his face. "They'd never want to trade either one of us, because we're both super great, but we're even better together."

"We'd sign matching contracts," Dylan says, and neither one of them is playing NHL '19 any more. They're looking at each other, smiles soft, definitely more caught in their shared memories than in the present. "Get a house a little ways away from the rink, get a dog."

"We've got the dog," Alex says. "We can work on the rest."

"We can," Dylan agrees. "We are."

The director doesn't say anything this time, but after a moment, Dylan sighs a little and looks at the camera. "That's a no, right?"

"That's a no," the director confirms. "If you think tomorrow would be better, we can try--"

"If you think tomorrow's gonna be any different, man, I have some news for you," Alex says, amused smile firmly in place. "Maybe we should take Ralph for a w-a-l-k? We're usually, uh. A little better in public."

"Let's try it," the director agrees.

-0-

"Hey, don't forget your gloves," Alex says as they're walking out the door. "It's still cold out."

"I don't need gloves," Dylan protests. "I have pockets."

Alex snorts. "But you can't grab my hand if you get too cold this time," he says, glancing at the camera. "Just grab the gloves, Dyls. You don't have to use them or whatever."

"Yes, dear, I'll grab my gloves," Dylan singsongs, and he leans in to peck Alex on the cheek as he unlocks the apartment door and disappears inside again.

Alex looks at the camera. "I swear we'll be better outside," he promises, a quirk to his lips that might mean he's lying.

-0-

"We should get Ralph a little sister," Alex says after ten uneventful minutes of Ralph stopping to sniff everything in sight. "Or a little brother. See how he does."

"He likes his play dates with the guys on the team and their dogs," Dylan replies. "He'd be fine, I guess."

"No, but like," Alex says. He switches Ralph's leash from one hand to the other. "What if it was a brother or sister he had around all the time? A little puppy, now that he's grown up. We could see what he'd do if he wasn't an only… dog."

Dylan stops walking. "Alex," he says slowly.

"Just," Alex goes on, rushing his words a little. "It would be different, yeah? And that way we'd already know, right, how he'd react to someone new being around. Someone really little."

Dylan glances around, but there's nobody else in the camera shot. He looks behind the camera, too, then reaches out and tugs Alex's hand out of his pockets so he can lace their fingers together and hold on for a three-count before letting go. "We can talk about it," he promises, smile sweet and full on his face. "We can absolutely talk about it. Uh, the puppy, and… like, the other thing. For later."

"Way later," Alex says, laughing, the sound echoing bright and joyful around them. "But yeah. We should talk about the puppy thing soon."

The director laughs too, a quiet, little thing, and doesn't comment.

-0-

Cass knocks on Lynda's door. "Hey, uh," she says, waving a thumb drive in the air. "I cut some stuff together. It's a little rough, but it's all useable."

"How long is it?" Lynda asks, looking up from her own computer.

Cass grimaces. "A little under a minute," she says. "And that's including cutting in some shots of the video game they were playing and the dog trying to eat a Christmas present."

"Well," Lynda says, sighing. "I guess that's what we're going with, unless we want to re-shoot."

"I don't think that's actually going to help," Cass says, shaking her head. "We're probably better off going with this."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Lynda says wryly. "Okay. Thanks for sifting through all of that, Cass."

Cass smiles and walks into Lynda's office, dropping the thumb drive on her desk. "No problem," she says. "It was cute, and if we ever need to do an entirely different kind of video…"

Lynda laughs. "We know exactly where we can start."

**Author's Note:**

> -fun fact: the paprikash story is 100% how two of my friends got together. they've been together for like twelve years now.


End file.
